Counter-guard.



PATENTED JULY 18, 1905.

J. S. AUBRBAGH. COUNTER GUARD. APPLICATION FILED MAB..17,'1905.

WITNESSES;

ATTORNEYS no"! I awul m. nwrmmaocmmnm vunmmunc UNITED STATES Patented July 18, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

CQUNTEFb-GUAFIDn SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 795,090, dated July 18, 1905,

Application filed March 1'7, 1905. Serial No. 250,543.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOSEPH S. AUERBACH, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Counter-Guard, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to counter-guards, my more particular purpose being to provide a type of guard which can be used for supporting transparent plates over a counter, so as to protect candies or other merchandise and to enable the same to be displayed to advantage.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing my improvement in use, and Fig. 2 is a perspective detail View showing the counter-guard removed from the counter. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of one of the fastenings for securing the plates 23 upon the rails.

The rail 3 is rigidly connected with a center rail 4, disposed at an angle thereto, and connected with the upper end of the center rail is the top rail 5. From this top rail a front rail 6 extends obliquely downward and connects with the bottom rail 3. Below the bottom rail 3 are feet 7, 8, and 9, provided with flanges l0, l1, and 12, and these flanges having screw-holes 13, whereby the flanges may be secured rigidly in position. The counter is shown at lei and is provided with a top portion 15, the flanges 10, 11, and 12 being preferably sunken thereinto. The lower end of the front rail 6 terminates in a lug 21, spaced apart from the rail proper by aslot 22. Large plates of glass 23 are supported directly upon the top rail 5 and held in position by screws 16, which engage the top rail 5, being provided with threaded stems 17 for the purpose. Other plates of glass 24 are slipped into the slots 22 and rest obliquely upon the front rail .6. These plates of glass are overlapped by the edges of the glass plates 23. They may no relation to the distances apart of the guards shown in Fig. 2. Any number of these guards may be employed, so that the system may be extended indefinitely. The plates 24 are first placed in position so as to rest upon the lugs 21. The plates 23 are next laid upon the top rails and secured firmly in position by the screws 16. Disposed intermediate of the guards are pans 25 or other receptacles for containing merchandise. As shown in Fig. 1, when pans are employed they are placed shoulder to shoulder, the last pan of a series presenting its shoulder 26 upon the same level as the upper surface of the bottom rail 3, against which it projects. The pans, therefore, form a continuous system, which is not materially interrupted by the presence of the counter-guards.

The counter-guards supporting the glass plates, as above described, are used in excluding dust and dirt from the merchandise and also for preventing unauthorized persons from handling or appropriating the merchandise from the front side of the counter. Nevertheless the merchandise is accessible to the salesmen in the rear of the counter.

While I do not limit myself to any particular manner of using the counter-guards, I recommend that each guard be as far as practicable independent of others, so that any desired number may be placed upon a counter and that they may be spaced apart any de-' sired distance commensurate with the width of the pans and the number thereof to be allowed for. For instance, as above explained, the length of the glass plates is not dependent upon the distance apart of the counterguards. It thus follows that no matter what may be the length of the counter or the number of pans to be placed thereupon the counter-guards can be so employed that there will be nothing projecting beyond the ends of the counter and yet that the system as a whole will be completed to the ends. The only thing to be allowed for in adjusting the system to any particular counter is the aggregate length of the glass plates, and these may of course be cut to order.

I do not limit myself to any particular use for my device. It may be used for displaying goods of any kind, while protecting them from handling by unauthorized persons, and yet protecting them from the action of dirt.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as a new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. As an article of manufacture, a counterguard comprising a bottom rail, a center rail connected thereto and extending therefrom at an angle, a top rail connected with said center rail, a front rail connecting said top rail and said bottom rail together, and means for supporting glass plates upon said top rail and said front rail.

2. As an article ofmanufacture, a rail-guard comprising a plurality of feet, each having flanges, means for connecting said flanges to a counter, a bottom rail connected with said feet and supported thereupon, a center rail connected with said bottom rail and extending upwardly therefrom, said center rail being providedwith a slot and with a lug bounding said slot, a front rail connected with said bottom rail and extending obliquely therefrom, and a top rail connected with said front rail and with said center rail, said front and top rality of glass plates mounted upon said counter-guards and supported thereby, and a plurality of pans disposed intermediate of said counter-guards and provided with shoulders extending to the same level as the upper level of said bottom rail.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH S. AUERBACH.

Witnesses:

EDWIN H. GEoReIE, LoUIs MEYER. 1 

